


there are so many reasons (i'm never gonna get enough)

by mischief7manager



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-06-08 00:58:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6832399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischief7manager/pseuds/mischief7manager
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles written from prompts received over on tumblr. Tags updated as chapters are added.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grog & Pike: reading a book together

So, Grog can’t read. It’s not a big deal, since everyone else can, so there’s always someone around to do his reading for him. But pretty much every member of the party has offered to teach him at one time or another, whether in earnest (Keyleth) or exasperation (pretty much everyone else). 

The only person who hasn’t offered is Pike. He asks her about it once, at Whitestone after they flee Emon. She’s going through the herbs and tonics they have on hand and describing which one she needs to him by look and smell, since he can’t read the labels. When he asks why she never tried to teach him, she just shrugs and says she figured if he wanted to learn, he’d ask. 

All of this to say that occasionally, when they have down time, Pike will wander into wherever Grog is staying, sharpening his weapons, doing his exercises, and so on, with a book or two and find a cozy spot to curl up and read. And eventually, Grog will stop whatever he’s doing and say that the quiet is driving him nuts and why doesn’t she read out whatever book she has, you know, just to pass the time. And if Grog never minds the quiet when he’s alone, and if Pike always happens to start reading at whatever place she left off the last time they did this, neither of them feels the need to comment. 


	2. Scanlan: hanging the painting

“No.”

Vex’s flat voice came from the entrance to the foyer of Greyskull Keep. In the foyer stood Scanlan Shorthalt, directing a couple of local lads who carried an enormous canvas between them. At the interruption, he turned from regarding the wall in front of him to face the new arrival. “Vex, before you say anything-”

“No _.”_

“-you should know that I bought this with my own money-”

“ _No_.”

“-and given that this is my Keep as well as yours, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be allowed to decorate it as I see fit.”

“Decorate your room as you see fit, Scanlan,” Vex shouted, “but don’t force the rest of us to put up with this-” she waved vaguely at the canvas. “This… _monstrosity_.”

“Hey, now!” Scanlan pressed a hand to his chest, the picture of righteous indignation. “I’ll have you know that Jamison devoted _hours_  of labor, as well as I’m sure any number of bodily fluids-” Vex’s nose wrinkled “-to the completion of this masterpiece.”

“What’s all the- oh.”

Both Vex and Scanlan turned to see Pike stopped in the doorway, blinking at the painting now hanging on the wall in front of her. “You see?” Vex said, pointing to Pike. “It’s not just me that thinks it’s awful, Pike, tell him.”

Pike’s head tilted to the side as she considered. “Actually,” she said, “I kind of like it.” 

The stone walls echoed with the sound of Vex’s forehead hitting her palm. 


	3. Vex/Zahra: Duende

**Duende** \- Unusual power to attract or charm. 

 

* * *

 

 

Zahra likes to think she has a good head on her shoulders. She hasn’t gotten this far by letting her passions overrule her sense. She feels deeply, but she’s learned to set her feelings aside. 

Vex’ahlia turns that attitude ass over teakettle. She’s dangerous, she’s clever, she’s fucking _hot_. Zahra’s attracted to her from the beginning, but it’s not til Vex dies that she realizes how in over her head she really is. This is more than just attraction. This is something she’s going to have to deal with, sooner or later. 

She hopes it’s sooner, for both their sakes. 


	4. Vex/Zahra: A kiss on the nose

“You’ve got something there, darling.”

Vex blinked up at Zahra, distracted from her meal, the first hot dinner she’d had in weeks of adventuring. “What?”

Zahra sighed, ostensibly exasperated, but the corners of her mouth turned up. “You’ve got food, dear. Just there.” She tapped a long scarlet finger to her nose. 

Vex swiped the back of her hand over her face, eager to get back to eating. “Good?”

Before Vex quite knew what was happening, Zahra leaned across the table and pressed a firm kiss right on the tip of her nose. “There,” she said, smirking at the sudden flush in Vex’s cheek. “Now you’re all taken care of.” 


	5. Vax/Keyleth: An underwater kiss

They didn’t have much time for play these days. Nor were they often in the mood for it, truth be told, but tonight, having spent the day slogging through the hot southern climate, the lake next to their chosen campsite was too great a temptation to resist. After checking to make sure nothing nasty lurked beneath the surface, the party stripped down (some more than others) (Scanlan more than others) and happily reveled in the cool water. 

Vax was floating on his back in the deeper water, enjoying the relative quiet provided by keeping his ears submerged, when something pulled him underwater by the waist. 

He thrashed for a moment, heart leaping to his throat, until he saw Keyleth floating a few feet away from him, a sheepish expression on her face. Looking closer, he saw her hands were raised in familiar casting arrangement, a suspicion confirmed when she twisted her fingers and the water propelled her towards him. He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged, as best she could underwater, her expression conveying _Sorry I startled you_  but also quite clearly _It was funny anyway_. 

They hung there for a moment, suspended in the silent water. Vax lifted a hand, so slow down here, to brush his fingers against the vibrant strands of hair fanning out around Keyleth’s head like a crown. Her eyes tracked his movement, softening as she watched him wrap a piece of hair around a finger and release it, letting it float in the current. The shafts of sunlight filtering through the water caught in her hair, turning strands of it gold and copper. Vax could have happily stayed and looked at her like this for hours, but at some point, he knew, he was going to have to breathe, so he lifted his arms to swim the few feet back to the surface.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back down to find Keyleth floating barely a foot away from him. She met his eyes, then, so quickly she must have used her magic to do it, slipped through the water and kissed him, full on the mouth. He felt her hands against his neck, felt her hair brush across his face, felt the currents of the water push her body close to his.

Too soon, she pulled away, blush visible even in the fractured light from the surface. She smiled at him a final time, then placed her hands on his chest and pushed, sending them both drifting. The smile was still on her face as Keyleth’s form twisted and shifted, her body elongating until she took off, her sleek dolphin form cutting through the water like one of Vax’s daggers.

He watched her go, heart pounding, until the ache in his chest turned from longing to a need for air, and he kicked back up to the surface. 


	6. Percy/Vex: a steamy kiss

“Percival, this is ridiculous.”

Vex walked slowly, hands stretched out in front of her, her usual grace absent thanks to her eyes being firmly closed. “You couldn’t just tell me what you made?” she said, smiling in spite of herself at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Where would be the fun in that?” Percy’s voice came from over her right shoulder, the one on which he currently rested a hand to help guide her steps. He was close enough that she could feel the heat of him against her back, and Vex couldn’t repress the shiver of satisfaction that ran through her at the sensation. “Alright,” Percy said, snapping her out of her musings, “open them.”

Vex opened her eyes. There, sitting on the table of Percy’s makeshift mansion workshop, was her broom. And attached to it, at long last, was the seat, the stirrups, the stabilizers. 

“It’s done?” Vex spoke without realizing, hand already reaching out to run over the broom’s shaft.

Behind her, Percy huffed in disbelief. “Yes, it’s done. As done as it can be without testing, I suppose.” A pause, as Vex picked the broom up and traced over every inch of it. “What,” he continued dryly, “no thanks?”

Before he’d even finished the word, Vex spun around, grabbed him by the lapels, and dragged him down to kiss him. This was no quick peck, no impulsive thoughtless act as she’d done many times before. This was all tongue and teeth, her mouth hot and slick against his, her thigh pressing between his, hands gripping his hair to pull him closer, and unable to stop himself, Percy groaned against her lips.

And just as suddenly, Vex pulled away. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was a mess, but she composed herself enough to give him a wink. “Proper thanks later,” she said, voice warm with promise. “For now, testing.”

With that, she hopped on the broom, said the command word, and shot out of the workshop, leaving a dumbfounded Percy in her wake. 


	7. Percy/Vex: a goodbye kiss

The plan was made. There was nothing left to do. Today, either they killed the Cinderking, or they died trying. 

All that was left was for the party to take their positions for the assault. Percy sat, going over every inch of his weapons for a final time. The rest of the party was quiet around him, soft farewells murmured at the edge of his hearing. He ignored it for the most part, focusing on the task in front of him. Percy had never had much luck with farewells.

“Percy.”

He looked up. Vex stood in front of him. In the pre-dawn darkness, she faded from view almost as easily as her brother, everything about her apparel designed to aid her stealth. Vex would be their ranged fighter today, hanging back and shooting from a distance. Normally, Percy would be with her, but for this attack he had to go with Vax and Scanlan directly to the center of the beast’s lair. The trap they planned to spring hinged on a mechanism of Percy’s design, one that he had to activate at precisely the right moment. If it worked, it would cripple Thordak’s wings and keep him grounded, at least partially bettering their chances. It had to work.

But it meant he would not be fighting this battle with Vex at his side. 

“Vex.” Carefully, he reassembled his pistol and holstered it, standing to face her. 

Vex looked at him for a long moment. Percy let her. For once, his usual easy wordsmithing wouldn’t come. There was so much he could say to her now: “Be careful”; “Be safe”; “Come back to me.” But nothing he could think of would fill this silence, nothing would convey the longing and regret for all the mistakes, the wasted time. Words could not express his fear for the coming battle, for both their fates. They could not express the aching in his heart.

Fortunately for him, Vex was not the kind of person who needed words.

In perfect silence, she stepped forward, draped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. If the others reacted to it, Percy didn’t notice. Percy didn’t care. He wrapped his arms around Vex and clung to her for seconds that were an eternity and still mercilessly short.

Vex pulled away. He followed her, resting his forehead against hers, feeling her breath in time with his. “If you die,” she said, voice soft enough for only him to hear, “Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, I will never forgive you.” 

He chuckled. “I’d expect nothing less.”

Vex stepped back. Reluctantly, Percy released her. He could feel Vax come up behind him, as the rogue rested a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time,” he said. In front of Percy, Vex’s gaze flicked to her brother, and Percy watched as the twins had their own wordless conversation.

Finally, Vex nodded. “Let’s go kill a dragon,” she said. Percy watched as she turned and slipped into the shadows to take her position.

She didn't look back.


	8. Vax/Keyleth: a supernatural kiss

The end of Keyleth’s Aramente, the last step. All of Vox Machina is gathered in the center of Zephra, waiting for Kohren to tell them what the final test will be. 

At last, the headmaster speaks. “For your final task, Keyleth,” Kohren says, voice echoing through the open space, “you must prove your mastery of all four elements.” He steps forward, raises his arms in a defensive position. “You will face me, in single combat.” 

Vax is the first to speak. “Alone?” It comes out harsh, louder than he meant it to, but he can’t stop himself. “No, you can’t, we’re here to help her, you can’t just-”

He’s cut off by Keyleth’s hand on his arm. “It’s alright, Vax,” she says, her voice soft, meant just for him. “I’m not afraid.”

Vax swallows hard. “I am,” he says.

Keyleth’s hand brushes his jaw, lifting his face into a kiss. Her mouth is warm against his. Warm, warmer, hot, and he pulls back just as the heat threatens to burn and sees flames flickering up and around Keyleth’s body, wreathing her in magical fire. The last parts to be engulfed are her eyes, locked onto his. He can just make out her smile, before the fire consumes her. In elemental form, she turns and launches herself at her father, her friends and family looking on.

She wins. Of course. 


	9. Vax & Scanlan: "You're too young to hate the world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for episode 56.

 

 

“Still think things are worse than before?”

Vax looked down. Scanlan stood next to him, watching the others continue the work on Westruun’s underground bunker. Percy was off to one side, in conversation with several older citizens as he painstakingly inscribed the story of the city on the wall. Pike stood out immediately, holy glow surrounding her as she healed the sick and injured, although there were fewer now than there had been days before. Grog and Vex were helping Keyleth move the earth and stone from the bunker above ground, slowly but surely turning the sewer into a livable space. 

“I mean,” Scanlan went on, “we’re all alive. That’s not nothing.”

Vax snorted. “Barely,” he said, “and not for lack of trying.”

Scanlan cocked his head. “Touche.” A pause, as they watched Keyleth, eyes lit with nature magic, carve a large swath in the stone. “Still,” he said, voice light as always, “could have been worse.”

“Still could be worse.”

Scanlan looked up at his friend. Vax stared at the rest of the party, his expression blank. Scanlan huffed. “You’re too young to hate the world, you know that?” he said.

Vax smirked. “Maybe I don’t hate the world,” he said, wry. “Maybe it’s the world that hates me.” 

The words hung for a moment. The smirk was still on Vax’s face, playing it off as another snarky comment, but his eyes told a different story.

Scanlan reached out and shoved Vax’s hip. Vax took an abrupt step to the side, caught off guard by the sudden physical content. “Alright, drama queen,” Scanlan said, grinning, “enough grimdark for one conversation.” He jerked his head back at Vex and Grog, still moving debris. “How hard do you think it would be to get your sister to fall right into that giant dirt pile over there?”

Slowly, _slowly_ , Vax smiles. 


	10. Percy & Cassandra: a conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In regards to Percy's bombshell in episode 60.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr anon asked for Percy telling Cassandra about Vex's title, and Cassandra teasing him about it.

“It makes perfect sense, really.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Her financial acumen would be an incredible asset to Whitestone, with the treasury in the state it’s in after everything that’s happened.”

“True.”

“And she’s more than capable as a fighter. I mean, you would know that, obviously, but even in the time that’s past since… Well, everything-”

“Percival. I said yes five minutes ago.”

“…you did, didn’t you.”

“You’ve as much right to name nobility as I have, more perhaps. You really don’t need my permission.”

“…I know, but I wanted to be… above board, on everything. I wanted to make sure there were no… oversights.”

“…she really means that much to you.”

“…I’m sure I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“Of course you don’t, Percival. Of course you don’t.”


	11. Vax/Keyleth: scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> getbackwitch said: so I know you posted that request for drabble prompts hours ago, but here's one anyway: just anything related to the fact that vax has a scar on his back in the shape of keyleth's hand?! I feel like fandom doesn't discuss that enough tbh

For a while, Keyleth hates it. 

She hates looking at the red, puckered skin on Vax’s back, her handprint seared into his flesh. To her, it’s a reminder of his pain, his anguished scream echoing in the chamber outside the Clasp’s tunnels. And even though it was the right thing to do, and even though he asked her to do it, the reminder that she caused that pain turns her stomach. Reminds her of all the pain she’s caused him in recent days. 

Vax rolls over in their bed one morning, just stirring to waking, and catches her flicking her eyes away from the scar. “Does it bother you?” he asks, voice honest and sleep rough. “The handprint.”

Keyleth shakes her head. “It’s fine.” 

He doesn’t call her out on the lie directly, which she’s grateful for. Instead he reaches down, pulling her hand up between them until he can spread it, fingers pressed to fingers, between their bodies. “Is it weird that I kind of like it?” 

Keyleth blinks. “What?”

Vax smiles. “I mean- don’t get me wrong, it hurt like a motherfucker, but-” He shrugs, shifting his hand to lace their fingers together. “I like having your mark on me.” He lifts his gaze to her, meeting her eyes. “I like feeling like I’m yours.” 

And, well. Keyleth just has to kiss him for that. And later, on other lazy mornings, if she spends more time tracing over the lines her fire left behind, Vax doesn’t say a word. 


	12. Gern & Zahra: Gymnophoria

Gymnophoria: The sensation that someone is mentally undressing you.

 

* * *

 

“D’you mind?”

Zahra blinks. “What?”

The dragonborn stands in front of her, clawed hands set firmly on his hips, his face, as best she could judge expression with the scales, indignant. “It’s very rude to stare, you know,” he says, lilting accent somewhat undermining the severity of his tone. “Is this common practice in Whitestone? Staring at people? Only if I’d known this was what was to be expected, I’d have stayed in the volcano, honestly. I mean, yes, it did sort of kill three of my friendpets, but-”

“Terribly sorry, dear,” Zahra interjects smoothly, before the poor thing works himself into a fit of some sort. He’d only arrived at Whitestone the day before, another of Vox Machina’s misfit allies, and had clearly been without human interaction for a long time.

Well. _Living_  human interaction, anyway.

“It’s just,” she continues, stepping forward, letting her weight shift to one hip, “I’ve had precious few encounters with dragonborns in the past, and I can’t help wondering...” Her tail comes up to curl around her wrist, and she flashes a grin. “Is there a tail hiding under all those layers?” 

Gern cocks his head. “Oh, is that all? I thought you were picturing me naked, fucking hell.” 

Zahra sighs. And she thought Kashaw was obtuse. 


	13. Percy/Vex: Apodyopis

 Apodyopis: The act of mentally undressing someone.

 

* * *

 

The frustrating thing about Percival is, all of the layers actually make him _more attractive_.

Vex thinks so, anyway. Watching Percy run around in an undershirt, AND a shirt, AND a waistcoat, AND a cravat, AND trousers, AND boots, AND gloves, AND an overcoat (seriously, it’s one thing in Whitestone or the Frostweald, how has this man not passed out from heat exhaustion) Vex’s mind inevitably wanders to what, exactly, he’s hiding under all that cloth. 

She finds herself watching him at odd moments, like now, observing him in his makeshift mansion workshop. The forge is running hot, but he’s still fully dressed, and Vex can’t help imagining peeling off the coat, the waistcoat, the... well. The everything, really. He must have scars, of course, but that’s only the obvious possibility. She can think of any number of other potential (delightful) secrets, secrets she could uncover mapping every inch of his skin...

“Vex?”

She jolts. Percy is looking at her, head tilted inquiringly. “Are you alright? You look rather flushed.”

She smiles. “I’m fine, darling.” She leans back, watching as Percy turns back to the bench, bending over it, coat pulling tight across his shoulders. “Just enjoying the view.”


	14. Percy/Vex: "I Hear the Bells" by Mike Doughty

“I thought our story was epic.”

Vex glances sideways at Percy where he’s listed drunkenly against the table. The post-Conclave destruction party rages something fierce, and she’d made her way to the side of Whitestone’s central square in an attempt to find a moment of quiet. Percy had joined her shortly afterward.

“Epic?” She takes another sip of ale.

Percy nods fervently. “Epic. Dragons slain, continent saved, two heroes finding among the chaos…” He trails off, taking a slug of whatever is in his mug. “Didn’t much count on fucking it up before it had a chance to start.”

She takes the mug from his hand. “Fucking what up, darling?”

He shrugs, rueful. “Doesn’t matter. You snooze you lose, as Scanlan might say.” He pats her cheek, more forcefully than she thinks he intends. “Don’t worry about me, dear. Go and celebrate.”

“You sure?”

Percy smiles. “You deserve it. You deserve-” He cuts himself off, wets his lips. “You deserve whatever you want.”

Vex’s heart leaps to her throat. “Whatever?”

He nods. “Whatever.”

Vex looks him over, in his current state of drunkenness. “Sober up,” she says, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “and I’ll hold you to that.” 

And she steps away, heading back to the center of the square. 


	15. Vax & Vex: "Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae

In another world, Vex doesn’t fall in the Raven Queen’s temple. In another world, Vax does not offer his service in exchange for his sister’s life.

In this one, the Raven Queen is greedy, and takes them both.

They are sides of a coin, death from above and a dagger from the shadows. Black feathers swirl in clouds behind them, and those that survive the meeting tremble ever after at the sight of dark wings and darker eyes. They do her bidding, in all things. There will always be those that seek to defy their own mortality, and there must always be those that bring them to heel.

The twins are merciless. They are pitiless.

They are inevitable. 

They are beautiful.

They have so much work to do. 


	16. Vox Machina: "Hurricane" by MisterWives

They all see the second glances they get.

Two gnomes, three half elves, a human, a goliath, and a bear in armor stand out pretty much everywhere, regardless of scenery or terrain. Some people, the hoity-toity types, look down on them for that. Doesn’t matter if it’s the guards at the Cloudtop District, the clerics in the temple to Bahamut, or the entire damn city of Singorn.

Vox Machina doesn’t need permission from anyone. And they definitely don’t need approval. 

And really, they’re trying to save the world. Forgive them for not trying to please high society while they do. 


	17. Keyleth/Kashaw: "You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins

Look. Running around the fucking jungle for days was Z’s idea. And because Kash is an idiot and loves her like a sister and isn’t gonna let her run around the _fucking jungle_  by herself, he came along, and okay, he was expecting mosquitos, rainstorms, and endless numbers of large things with teeth wanting to kill him.

He wasn’t expecting gorgeous half-naked women. Especially not one that _picked him up like nothing_  and then _swung through the trees_ and set him down on a tree branch and _stared at him_.

“What the fuck.” he said.

“Wha the fuhk,” she said.

He groaned. “Oh, that’s just great. I taught the freaky wild child to swear, that’s- that’s perfect, is what that is- _whoa!”_

The woman, still walking on all fours on her knuckles, seriously, what the _shit_ , moved forward suddenly, her rat’s nest of orange hair almost getting in his mouth with how close she was. “Whoa, hey there, lady, seriously, I’m flattered, but buy a guy dinner first, alright?” On instinct, he put out a hand to push her off. 

She caught his wrist and held his hand in front of her, head tilting side to side as she considered it with huge green eyes. Slowly, she lifted up her hand and put it palm to palm with his. Her eyes widened, and she spread their fingers. 

Kash’s breath caught. The woman looked up at him, eyes wide, and released his wrist to tap her chest. “Keyleth.”

He blinked. “What?”

Her brow furrowed, and she repeated the moment. “Keyyyyyyyleeeeeeth.” She reached out and tapped his chest, cocking her head expectantly.

Kash’s eyes narrowed. “Kashaw.” 

She smiled, and for a second, it was like the sun coming out. “Ka-shaaw.” 

Kash nodded. “Yeah, okay, Kashaw, nice to meet you. So…” He pulled his hand away and gestured off the side of the branch to the leaf-strewn ground several hundred feet below them.

“Can you please _get me the fuck down?”_


	18. Percy/Vex: "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj

Percy doesn’t dance.

He doesn’t. Especially not the kind of dancing one does in a club, all grinding and sweating and invading people’s personal space. He hadn’t even wanted to come tonight, but Pike was graduating from her nursing program, and she wanted him to be part of the celebration, and he loved Pike too much to say no.

Even if the “celebration” involved him standing awkwardly in a corner, away from the writhing throng of people in the dance floor. 

“Percy!” Vex comes bounding out of the crowd just as the music switches to something fast paced, lots of high drum and electronic tones. She makes straight for him and latches onto his arm, three drinks into the night already. “Percy!” she yells to be heard over the music, “Dance with me!”

“No.” 

She pouts. “Come _on_ , Percy, even my brother’s out there! You’re so gloomy all the time, lighten up!” Her cheeks are flushed, from exertion or alcohol, he can’t tell, and her eyes shine in the reflected light from the dance floor. “Please!”

Looking at her, radiating carefree happiness, Percy feels his resolve crumble. “Alright,” he says, ignoring her delighted squeal, “but only one song!”

(He dances at least five songs with her. Heading home at the end of the night, he can’t find it in himself to mind.)


	19. Kima/Allura: Exes prompt meme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: ”we bumped into each other in the street and you were grinning like a cocky asshole the whole time so i stalked off only to realise i’m wearing your shirt”

If she’s being honest, Allura’s primed for a fight even before she runs into Kima.

She oversleeps her alarm that morning, and she has to get ready in a quarter of the time it usually takes her. She throws her hair into a quick braid and yanks on the first shirt she can find in her dresser. It’s too tight and it’s too short, and normally Allura would be caught dead before going to campus in anything that bares her midriff, but it’s just meeting with some people in her class to go over some notes, it’s not like she’ll be seeing anyone important.

And of course, the line at her favorite coffee stop is twice as long as usual because one of the espresso machines is out, and Allura _knows_  it’s not Gilmore’s fault his equipment isn’t cooperating, but she’s still late to her study session, and Allura _hates_  being late.

So really, running into Kima as she’s leaving the library is honestly the last thing she needs.

Literally running into her. Allura is checking her phone, making sure Drake still wants her to grab takeout to bring back to the apartment, when Kima collides with her torso headfirst, sending them both stumbling back. 

“Watch where you’re-” Kima snaps, then stops when she realizes who exactly she’s run into. “Allie. Hi.”

Allura swallows. Kima’s still the only person who’s ever called her that. It shouldn’t get to her like it does. “Kima. What are you doing here?”

Kima’s eyebrows snap together. “I was gonna go study for my Religious Studies exam, until somebody decided to bowl me over.”

And just like that, Allura’s furious. “ _I_ decided- _You_  are the one who ran into _me!”_ She huffs. “Really, Kima, that is just typical, blame everyone but yourself, I can’t believe-”

She cuts herself off. Kima’s not looking at her. Or, she is, but not at her face. Kima’s eyes have drifted down to her torso, and there’s a sly grin spreading across her face. 

Allura goes bright red and crosses her arms over her chest. “Whatever. Go study. I should have guess you wouldn’t be ready for a mature conversation.”

She storms off. She can just hear Kima call out from behind her: “Nice shirt, Allie! Really suits you!”

Allura assumes it’s a crack about her tits until she gets back to the apartment and Drake cocks his head at her when she walks in with the takeout. “Where’d you get the shirt, lass?”

Allura looks down at her front and groans. That morning she’d assumed she’d grabbed one of her shirts that had shrunk in the wash, but clearly she’d been mistaken.

Emblazoned across her chest, [“Nobody knows I’m a lesbian”](http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/2015/10/22/nobody-knows-im-a-lesbian-test-x750.jpg) is written in bold capital letters, atop two interlocking femininity symbols.

Allura sighs. “Well,” she says. “That explains why the asshole in my lecture group stopped hitting on me.”

Drake laughs so hard he cries. 


End file.
